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Randsfjorden

Lake in Innlandet, Norway

Randsfjorden
Summary

Lake in Innlandet, Norway

FieldValue
nameRandsfjorden
imageGrimsrud, Randsfjorden.jpg
captionLooking south from Grimsrud
mapframeyes
mapframe-zoom7
mapframe-captionInteractive map of the lake
coordinates
locationInnlandet and Akershus
typeglacial fjord lake
inflowDokka and Etna
outflowRandselva
catchment3701.54 km2
basin_countriesNorway
length74.5 km
width4 km
area140.69 km2
depth47 m
max-depth131 m
volume6.612 km3
shore203 km
elevation135 m
referenceNVE

| mapframe-zoom = 7 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map of the lake |date-built = |date-flooded = |max-depth = 131 m

Randsfjorden is Norway's fourth-largest lake with an area of 140.7 km2. Its volume is estimated at just over 6.6 km3, and its greatest depth is 131 m. The lake is located at an elevation of 135 m above sea level. It is located in Innlandet and Akershus counties in the municipalities of Gran, Jevnaker, Nordre Land, and Søndre Land in the traditional districts of Land and Hadeland. It is drained by the Randselva river.

History

View northwards from Jevnaker
Map of the fjord

In Heimskringla, Snorri Sturluson recorded that Halfdan the Black (Halvdan Svarte), father of Harald Hårfagre, the first King of Norway, journeyed over the lake while returning home from a visit to Hadeland. Traveling with a horse and sleigh while the lake was supposedly frozen, he fell through the ice and drowned.

In modern times, many golf courses have been set up on the edge of the lake. The Tangen–Horn ferry runs between Horn on the east bank and Tangen on the west, which is Norway's last remaining and regularly operating car ferry connection on an inland lake. The sightseeing boat MS Kong Haud sails on the Randsfjorden from Jevnaker to Odnes.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was just Rǫnd, derived from the word which means "stripe" or "edge" (referring to the long and narrow form of the lake). The last element (the finite form of fjord) is a later addition to the name that was first recorded in 1691. Although the term "fjord" usually describes a saltwater inlet that is connected to the ocean, the Randsfjorden is actually a freshwater lake with a narrow shape, approximately aligned on a north–south axis.

References

References

  1. "Innsjødatabase".
  2. "Informasjon om stadnamn". [[Norwegian Mapping Authority.
  3. {{Cite SNL. Randsfjorden. Randsfjorden. 2025-09-05. Thorsnæs. Geir. 2024-11-26
  4. {{Cite SNL. Halvdan_Svarte_-_norsk_småkonge. Halvdan Svarte (norsk småkonge). 2025-09-05. Krag. Claus. 2024-11-15
  5. "MS Kong Haud". hadeland.no.
  6. "Randsfjorden". Innovation Norway.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

hadeland land,-norway nordre-land-municipality søndre-land-municipality gran-municipality jevnaker lakes-of-innlandet lakes-of-akershus
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